The present invention generally relates to an image processing apparatus, and more particularly to an image processing apparatus for automatically deleting an undesired image from an image of a document which is scanned, which apparatus is applicable to digital copiers and facsimile machines dealing with digital input/output image data.
Conventionally, in an image processing system such as a digital copier, an undesired image appears together with an image of a document when a document with holes or a document with a staple is scanned and processed. One conceivable method for removing such an undesired image from image of the document is to cover the staple or the holes with additional white paper. Another method is to designate the location of an undesired image in a document as a delete area, so that the image in the designated area is deleted by an image edit function of an image processing system. However, it is necessary to perform such work as covering the staple or holes with additional paper or utilizing the image edit function, when a document with a staple or a document with holes is scanned and processed with the image processing apparatus. This costs the users additional time and labor.